Ethiopia: Yellow Fever Outbreak - May 2013

Glide: EP-2013-000067-ETH

Overview

On 7 May 2013, six cases of Yellow Fever were confirmed in South Omo in the SNNPR region (WHO, 31 May 2013). By the end of June, over 130 case had been reported and the government, with support from health partners, has reached 480,000 people out of the 600,000 targeted by the second phase reactive Yellow Fever vaccination (OCHA, 1 Jul 2013).

As of 22 Jul, 141 confirmed cases and 55 suspected deaths had been reported. Overall, reported cases have gradually declined since mid-June and 89 per cent of the people target in the vaccination campaign had been reached. (OCHA, 5 Aug 2013)

In this issue
- 181: A review of the role of training in WHO Ebola emergency response
- 186: Yellow fever urban outbreak in Angola and the risk of extension
- 192: Monthly report on dracunculiasis cases, January–February 2016

Following the overall near normal performance of the 2014 kiremt rains, food security is expected to improve in many parts of the country. Nevertheless, humanitarian challenges will continue in pocket areas in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the country where the seasonal rainfall performance was poor. Moreover, food security will likely continue to deteriorate in areas affected by various hazards during the latter half of 2014.

Following the poor 2014 gu/ganna rains, drought conditions are developing in the pastoralist areas of south eastern Ethiopia. The food security situation is also deteriorating in areas that received below normal belg/sugum rains in north eastern Afar, parts of Oromia and South Omo zone (SNNPR). Conversely, favourable 2014 belg rains contributed to th e improvement of food security situation in most part s of Amhara and SNNP regions.

New water shortages were reported in drought-prone woredas of Oromia region in the third week of January. Other water-stressed woredas in the region are being closely monitored. Areas that received poor kiremt/karma (June-September 2013) rains in Afar and Tigray regions continue to experience water shortages. The next seasonal rains are expected in March. As of 20 January, 22 water trucks were requested to meet the water needs of more than 168,000 people in Afar, Oromia and Tigray regions. During January, six operational water trucks benefitted more than 36,800 people.

During the past week, three additional woredas in Bale and East Hararge zones of Oromia region reported water shortages. Meanwhile, discussions are on-going regarding the exploitation of existing water harvesting mechanisms, or building new ones, ahead of the March rainy season in Afar region.

The number of measles cases surged to 3,162 since mid-January. The majority of cases are reported from SNNPR.

The number of yellow fever cases reported in South Omo zone, SNNPR increased to 155 during the same period.

The food security situation improved in most parts of the country following normal to above normal 2013 kiremt/deyr/hagya rains, except in pocket areas that received insufficient rains and areas affected by various hazards. The food security situation is particularly concerning in the north eastern parts of the country following three to four consecutive inadequate seasonal rains.

In Syria, government military aircraft targeted rebel-held districts in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 15 people according to opposition activists. In parallel, Damascus announced that it had retaken control of the key Damascus – Homs supply highway after gaining ground in the battle for the strategic Qalamoun region. London and Washington decided to suspend all non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition fearing that military equipment may fall under the control of Islamic radical groups.

In Syria, the conflict has been going on for over 1,000 days, and to date, the war has displaced 6.5 million people internally and forced 2.3 million to cross into neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, Washington indicated that it has been in talks with Islamist opposition factions non-linked to Al-Qaeda, in order to push for a negotiated settlement to the crisis.

In Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that an estimated 126,000 people have died during the conflict, more than a third of them civilians. Meanwhile, Turkey and Iran, which support opposing sides within the crisis, jointly called for a ceasefire before the beginning of the peace talks, set for 22 January in Geneva.

In Syria, government forces fully control the town of Qara after almost a week of heavy fighting which caused over 15,000 Syrian refugees to cross into Lebanon. Meanwhile, the UN stated that it has brokered an agreement allowing for the Government of Syria and opposition negotiators to meet for peace talks in Geneva on January 22. The opposition reaffirmed the conditions of its participation: the release of prisoners, humanitarian assistance for besieged towns, and the exclusion of President Assad from the new transitional government.

In Syria, the opposition agreed to participate in international peace talks in Geneva under the condition that President al-Assad is excluded from any transitional government, which constitutes a major obstacle to the initiation of the process as the Government stated it will not enter discussion if this demand is upheld. The peace dialogue has been repeatedly postponed and will not go ahead as planned in November. To date, the overall number of Syrian refugees is over 2.2 million and the number of people in need in the country stands at 9.3 million.

In Syria, the opposition remains divided over their participation to proposed peace talks in Geneva, with a decision being expected by 9 November. In Damascus, the Government repeated that it will not enter discussions if President al-Assad is forced to resign. While the overall number of Syrian refugees went over 2.2 million, revised estimates indicated that the number of people in need in Syria has increased from 6.8 million in April to 9.3 million in late October. An estimated 6.5 million are internally displaced.

In Syria, fighting has intensified in October with the Government gaining control of strategic areas around Damascus and south of Aleppo. Meanwhile, while the number of Syrian refugees has reached almost 2.2 million people, parties to the conflict and international actors are increasingly focused on the Geneva II conference scheduled to take place in November after having been postponed several times.

In Syria, heavy fighting is ongoing in Rural Damascus, Dar’a, Aleppo, Idleb and Homs, with government forces making gains in Rural Damascus while the opposition has won ground in Dar’a. Despite the call of al-Qaeda’s leader for opposition fighters to unite, inter-group fighting has escalated in Aleppo over control for neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, the Syrian National Council announced that it did not intend to participate in the proposed Geneva II peace talks.